


Drinking Wars and Sweet Rolls

by JayOrLex



Series: A Broken World For Broken People [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Candid Talks by the Campfire, Different courier since it's not fic related, Druggie Craig, Emotional Hurt, F/M, First time someone gets hurt, Framed Photos, How they deal, Just something that wouldn't fit into my fic, Secrets, Short Drabble, Shy Craig, Silent Treatment, They had just became companions, hallucination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 11:57:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20096869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayOrLex/pseuds/JayOrLex
Summary: Craig gets hurt and Jordan gets a room to fix him in. Problem? There's one bed.





	Drinking Wars and Sweet Rolls

"Don't look at me like that, Boone. You're about to pass out where you stand and I won't be able to lug your body all the way across the Mojave."

Boone wheezed against her shoulder, leaning more into her weight. Jordan was strong, she had to be considering. But she knew very well how hard, and dangerous it would be to keep her eye on an almost dead man. Boone coughed, a small trickle of blood drooping from his mouth. "Strauss," he mumbled weakly through his pained pants.

Jordan shook her head vehemently. "You told me yourself that you'd be better shooting yourself with Med-X and hoping for the best." She shook her head again. "I can fix it, we just need a room."

Maybe it's because Boone still followed orders like the soldier he always was, or he was just too tired to argue anymore. Either way, he took a deep breath and focused on staying as upright as he could. "Gonna pass out."

Jordan sighed, pointing to the big dinosaur in the distance. "Keep on fighting, Boone. We're almost there."

And he did. Although she knew by his demeanor that the NCR had done him wrong, they'd done him right in teaching him how to survive. Ever since his refusal to re-enlist, she assumed this is all he was doing. Surviving, but not living. 

She shook her head out of her thoughts as she pushed through the door to the Dino-Bite Hotel lounge. Since doing the deed with Jeanie May, Cliff had taken over as Hotel Manager. It made her sad to see him so out of his element, but she figured the numerous T-Rex Figurines lying around the lounge must have given him some closure. She let Boone sag into the couch at the end of the room, and raced to the front desk. "Cliff, I need a room. Right now."

Cliff looked up from the terminal on the desk, brows furrowed in confusion before his eyes landed on Boone. He gasped. "What happened?"

"Nevermind that, Cliff. Just give me a room, please."

He nodded swiftly, fingers clicking rapidly on the keyboard. "Oh."

Jordan stopped short. "Oh? Oh what?"

"Pardon me, but the only room left over is the one on top of the stairs."

"So?" Jordan was normally very patient, but Cliff was definitely pushing it.

"There's only one bed." 

"Oh." She hated herself for thinking about her own comfort over Boone's, but it was only human.

"Why don't you just go to Boone's-"

"No." His voice was weak, but firm enough for Jordan to understand.

"No. We'll take the open room." 

Cliff nodded, briskly handing her the key. "Fix Boone. Please."

They were almost out the door, Jordan struggling under most of Boone's weight when Manny Vargas came through. "Hey Cliff, I-" his eyes landed on her's, and he sprung into action quickly. Soldier instincts, she assumed. "What the hell happened?" His eyes were frantically scanning Boone's body.

"Deathclaw. He saved me. I need help." 

Manny friskly nodded, snaking his arm under Boone's and gingerly lifted him to his side. "Hate me or love me, but you better lean on me Craig."

He made no effort to argue as he fought off the exhaustion tugging at his eyelids. Jordan raced up the steps, fidgeting with the janky lock and swinging it open just as Manny had made it up the stairs. Shuffling in, he looked back to her over her shoulder. "Where do you want him?"

"Just set him on the bed," she answered absentmindedly as she scowered her pack for necessary medical supplies. She heard the bed creak as Manny very gently set Boone down. "Shit. Manny, come here." In a matter of seconds, he was standing in front of her. She tried to ignore the large amount of Boone's blood that had stained the side of his armor. Reaching into her pack, she pulled out a handful of caps. "We're out of Med-X, and we need a super stimpak." She looked at Boone again. "Make that two. Just get as much as you can."

Manny threw the caps back in her sack. "I don't need money, we get them for free." He turned on his heel, racing out of the open door. 

Jordan turned to Boone, grabbing the scissors and beginning to cut his shirt free of his chest. "Why does he get stuff for free?"

"Save the town's ass, they save yours." His breathing had become less heavy, which could have been either a very good, or very bad sign. She went much quicker now. 

She gasped as she saw the three very deep gashes stretching across his abdomen. Tears stung at her eyes as she relived the incident. She had let her guard down, just once, as her mind was elsewhere. On revenge.

She was so zoned out that she hadn't noticed they'd wandered straight into a Deathclaw's nest. Before she even had time to react, she felt herself being thrown to the ground. Looking up, she watched in horror as a mother deathclaw slashed her giant talons violently at his stomach, causing him to fly out of her eye's sight and thudding hard against the ground. Scrambling up, she made sure to race with the deathclaw straight on her tail away from where she heard the thud of his body. Once a good distance away, she breathed out quick, aiming true, and snuffed a 40mm grenade straight between the eyes. 

It fell in one fell swoop, the silence crashing against her already rapidly beating heart as she raced back to the nest. She found him eventually, laying in between large rocks, face down and blood pooled around him. She was certain he was dead until she whispered his name and he stirred. She plunged a super stim into him, and made her way to where they were now.

"It really that bad?" His voice shook her out of her thoughts. He was looking curiously down to her face, which now had tears springing freely from it.

She sniffed, quickly wiping the tears away and shaking her head. "Unfortunately, no. I can fix you."

"You keep saying that," he murmered, eyes drooping more. "Don't know if you actually know where to start."

She would have slapped him for insulting her intelligence, if not for the circumstance. She just shook her head. "Got any more sly comments for me?"

He breathed out, moving just an inch as her cold hands touched his fiery skin. "Tons."

"Well then, suppose you have to stay awake so you can keep throwing them at me, huh?" Her hands gloved now and peroxide in hand, she looked up to him. "This is probably going to hurt."

"Not as much as right now."

"Damn, you've got a quick tongue." She smiled apologetically, pouring the antiseptic into the gashes. He hissed through his tongue but lay perfectly still as his hands clenched tightly against the frame of the bed. "That's impressive."

He panted in relief as the excess liquid was wiped away. "S'from the army. You cry out, you get caught. You squirm, you die faster."

She tried not to dwell too much on the word 'die' coming so innocently from his mouth, grabbing what little Med-X they had left. "Darnit, where's Manny with the-"

"Here." A bag dropped next to her before she even saw him. "Got almost the whole stash, think she likes you Boone."

Boone didn't answer, his eyes beginning to slightly glaze over as they stared at the hotel ceiling. Jordan noticed this, squeezing at his arm as she started pumping the Med-X into his veins. Seeing him fighting so hard to keep his eyelids open, she rubbed her arm slowly up and down his arm. "You did your part, you can let go." As if waiting for her approval, his eyes immediately slicked closed and his breathing evened out right after. 

Manny sighed, sitting on the very edge of the couch and watching him intently. "You don't have to stay, I have this under control."

Manny shook his head, eyes still on Boone's sleeping form. "Not until I know he's okay."

Jordan nodded swifty, capping the last Med-X syring and tossing it into the can next to her. Snatching up the super stimpacks, she pumped two into his stomach and sat back on her heels. "Have to wait a few minutes for the meds to kick in," she explained to Manny as if he'd ask her anyway. "Otherwise, he'll feel every bit of the suturing."

Manny only nodded. "What happened?"

"Got too far into my head. Walked straight into a deathclaw nest. Jolted out of my thoughts right as I saw Boone jump in front of me, taking the hit."

It took Manny a minute to respond, and his eyes finally left his former partner to land on her's. "Hmm. He saved you?"

Jordan scoffed. "Well don't sound too disappointed."

He shook his head, sticking his hands up. "That's not what I meant. Boone'd lay his life down for anyone he trusts. But he's smart, too. He'd never step in front of something that'd get them both killed." He shrugged, eyes narrowing as he looked at her. "Wonder what was so different with you."

Ashamed of the blush spreading rapidly across her cheeks, she ducked her head away from him. She tried playing it off by casually shrugging. "Who knows?" Looking down at her pip-boy, she nodded, setting up her suturing supplies and shifting to sit on her knees in front of Boone. To test that he was numb, she flicked against his vein. Comatose from the meds, he gave no reaction. Satisfied, she began stitching the three long gashes on his stomach.

She was so engrossed in her work that she didn't even notice that Manny had come to sit beside her, setting up another suturing needle and beginning to stitch up the other gashes. She said nothing but nodded curtly in thanks. He didn't say anything either, and they worked in silence besides the soft snoring from Boone.

She sighed when they had finished the stitchings, tossing the empty thread needle in the trash and beginning to wrap up the bottom portion of his stomach tightly. When she was finished, she watched his face for any sign of distress. When finding none, she stood up, walking to the bathroom and wiping the blood away from her hands. She took one look at Boone's ruined shirt and sighed, throwing it away. "Do you have a shirt he could use?"

Manny shook his head, but fished through his pockets and set a key on the sink next to her. "Here."

"What's this for?"

"His room. He gave it to me before he left." She saw him look back at Boone sadly from his reflection in the mirror. "Don't think he thought he'd ever be back again."

Jordan scooped up the key, fingers grazing over the engraving in it before she nodded. "Thanks, Manny."

"Sure." He stepped back from the doorway, letting her out as he followed her out of the room and down to Boone's old door.

He sighed in despair as soon as he stepped inside. "Can't tell you how many times Boone and I'd have competitions to see who could drink the most before passing out." He chuckled. "Never could tell you which one of us won. We'd wake up with killer headaches to Carla's homemade sweet rolls, every morning." He cleared his throat to hide the crack in his voice. "Seems like such a long time ago."

She left him alone to his thoughts, rummaging through his drawers for a shirt. Upon finding one, she slammed the drawer shut and was about to leave when she saw it. Sitting on the top of the dresser was a picture of Carla and Boone on their wedding day.

She truly was beautiful. What little she got from Boone about her what true, her smile was big and bright and lit her heart up. Her beach blonde hair and blue eyes twinkled in the bright lights of Vegas, and she was smiling so sweetly up at Boone. 

The grin he gave back made her heart pang with a moment's jealously, which she didn't hesitate to punish herself for. She hoped, one day, that she could make him smile like that. At anything. 

"He loved her." Manny's voice bellowed from right behind her, and she jumped. He didn't notice. "He'd never been happier before he met her. I miss that."

She figured if she made him so happy, he'd want something to remember her by. So swifty, she grabbed the framed photo and made her way back up to the room. Manny cleared his throat as they were outside the door. "Can you-" he sighed, "Can you let me know when he's awake?"

She nodded. "Of course I can. I'll let him know what you did for him."

After Manny walked to his room and she heard his door shut, she unlocked the room door and stepped inside. Silently, she folded up the fresh shirt and setting it on the drawer in front of the room, setting the framed picture neatly next to it. Looking at Boone's sleeping form on the bed, she sighed as she began to walk over to the couch.

"Carla?" She was interrupted by the weak sound of Boone's voice.

"What? No, Boone, I'm-" she stopped short after turning and seeing him looking at her, eyes completely glazed over. He wasn't really awake, not conscious at least. He wouldn't remember this in the morning.

"Boone?" He smirked, lifting an eyebrow. "Why are you calling me Boone, baby?"

She licked her dry lips, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry Bo-Craig. I just couldn't sleep is all."

He groaned, flopping his head back on the pillows and groaning in pain. "What happened last night?"

She had never been more thankful towards Manny's tendency to overshare before as she smiled. "You and Manny were at it again, drinking yourselves to oblivion."

She saw the smile spread across his lips in the dim glow of the moonlight from the window. "Oh yeah? Who won?"

"Manny did, unfortunately. Got him to his room right after you passed out. He's sleeping it off."

Boone sighed. "Damnit, that's three in a row!" He smiled teasingly at her. "Guess I just gotta keep practicing."

"No!' She meant it, as Carla and as Jordan. "I'm not fueling your alcoholic tendencies, Craig Boone."

"Hmm," he grunted, drowsiness lacing his words. "M'hungry," he muttered after a while.

"Well, let me make you a sweet roll then." She wasn't intending on doing it, he'd be asleep long before her act would run stale.

"Nah, too tired to wait. I have a better idea." His eyes met hers again. "Come join me."

She hoped the hitch in her breath wasn't as audible as she thought it was. A moment's hesitation is all Boone needed to become alert. "Carls, what's wrong?" She saw him moving to get out of the bed, and she sprung to action.

"No no, don't get up!" She forced him back into a laying position. "I just-" she stepped back, "wanted a sweet roll. I'm over it now." She began to climb in the space beside him, but his hand on her chest stopped her.

"You really gonna sleep in your day clothes?"

She looked over at herself, sighing. "Oh, silly me. Of course not." Turning around so she at least didn't have to see his face, she squeezed her eyes tight. Fingers moving against her will, she tugged at the waist of her pants, sliding them down her legs. She felt his eyes on her as she shrugged off her wool jacket. Stripped down to just her T-shirt and underwear, she kicked off her shoes and discarded her socks inside of them. Turning around, she nodded. "Okay, I'm coming."

He smiled sweetly, closing his eyes. "Excellent."

Shaking violently, she sighed out a breath and climbed over his body, kicking her legs quickly underneath the blankets. She heard rustling, then she sighed, content lacing it even as her mind was screaming as she felt his arm wrap around her small frame, pulling her into his chest. His warm breath tickled the back of her neck as his head nestled on it. "I love you so much, Mrs. Carla Boone."

Her heart panged with the kind of sadness that makes your body numb. This poor, poor man. "I love you too, Mr. Craig Boone."

Almost immediately after, she heard his soft snoring and felt his warm breath against her neck. 

Despite everything her mind was screaming at her, she fell asleep in his warm, soft embrace that she felt far too guilty for enjoying so much.

_

Jordan woke up the next morning to Boone's body tensing immediately. Silently, he climbed out of bed. She kept her eyes closed. Hearing drawers closing and the small rustles of the shirt she'd left for him going to use, she kept her eyes closed until she heard the front door softly close. 

She huffed out a breath, tears stinging at her eyes as she lay on her back. It was all over now, she was sure of it.

Until she saw that his pack was still on the couch, and the framed photo, frame now void of the picture, was still laying in the same spot she left it. Her heart resumed its normal rythym, and she climbed out of bed with a smile on her face as she got dressed, grabbing both their packs and following him outside.

_

They didn't speak of it again for days. In fact, they didn't speak much about anything for days, despite the occasional enemy spotting. 

She really thought she had ruined everything until she went to put some loot in his pack and saw the photo, resting neatly in the pocket inside of the bag. Smiling but saying nothing, she zipped up the pack and patted his back to let him know she was done.

They still didn't talk about it. Until one night, while they were sitting by their campfire and beginning to settle in for the night.

She had just rolled out her bedroll when she heard Boone whisper her name. A bit too eager for any semblance of a conversation, he had her attention in seconds. "Wanted to apologize, for that night."

Her heart dropped. If it's something he felt he had to apologize for, she knew he obviously didn't feel the same. "You thought I was Carla." That's all she said.

His eyes came to her then, and he took off his shades to look at her directly. "What?"

"You were under heavy medication, and you hallucinated me as Carla. I didn't want to spook you into popping your stitches, so I just played the part when you asked me to sleep next to you."

"Oh." It was silent for a long time after that. Long enough for Jordan to accept the tense air that would probably be around for the rest of their time together as she began to settle back into her bedroll.

"Can I-" he stopped short, clearing his throat, "need to confess something."

She looked back to him, nodding. "Okay."

She saw the hesitation in every part of his face. "Well, I guess, it's just-I don't know, it's like-" he sighed, staring straight into her eyes. "Damn it all to hell, I really liked it, Six."

Her heart fluttered, and she didn't bother hiding the huge smile on her lips. "I did too." Laying back in her bedroll, she closed her eyes and was about asleep before she heard him clear his throat again.

"Mind if we do it again?"


End file.
